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FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competitions And Their Opening Goals

Uruguay 1930
No qualifying competition
Italy 1934
An own goal by goalkeeper Evald Tipner as Sweden beat Estonia 6-2 in Stockholm on 11 June 1933.
France 1938
Lennart Bunke scored after an hour, breaking the deadlock and helping Sweden to a 4-0 win over Finland in Stockholm on 16 June 1937.
Brazil 1950
Davy Walsh netted for the Republic of Ireland nine minutes into a match against Sweden in Stockholm on 2 June 1949, but the hosts won 3-1.
Switzerland 1954
Frane Matosic of Yugoslavia was the only goalscorer in a meeting with Greece in Belgrade on 9 May 1953.
Sweden 1958
Captain Gerd Hannappi scored the first two goals as Austria beat Luxembourg 7-0 in Vienna on 30 September 1956.
Chile 1962
Augusto Espinosa scored a first-minute goal for visiting Guatemala but Costa Rica eventually emerged 3-2 winners in San Jose on 21 August 1960.
England 1966
Danny Schrijvers converted a penalty as the Netherlands beat Albania 2-0 in Rotterdam on 24 May 1964.
Mexico 1970
Norbert Hof’s fourth-minute penalty was the first of his five goals for Austria as they beat Cyprus 7-1 in Vienna on 19 May 1968.
West Germany 1974
Mokhtar Khalem scored the only goal of the game as Algeria beat Guinea in Algiers on 2 March 1972.
Argentina 1978
Boukari Adamou scored for Niger after 17 minutes but they went on to lose 5-1 to Sierra Leone in Freetown on 7 March 1976.
Spain 1982
Paul McGee got the first of two goals as the Republic of Ireland won 3-2 in Cyprus on 26 March 1980.
Mexico 1986
Austria’s Martin Gisinger scored the opener as they beat Cyprus 2-1 in Nicosia on 2 May 1984.
Italy 1990
Elliott Allen scored the first goal for Trinidad and Tobago as they won 4-0 against Guyana in Georgetown on 17 April 1988.
USA 1994
Defender Mark Lugris of Puerto Rico scored the first goal as his country beat the Dominican Republic 2-1 in Santo Domingo on 21 March 1992.
France 1998
Antony Dominic of Dominica claimed the first goal in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Antigua in Rousseau on 10 March 1996.
Korea/Japan 2002
It took Marvin Andrews just nine minutes to earn the distinction of scoring the first goal as Trinidad and Tobago beat the Netherlands Antilles 5-0 in Port of Spain on 4 March 2000.
Germany 2006
Kily Gonzalez put Argentina ahead but Chile fought back to draw 2-2 in Buenos Aires on 6 September 2003.